On May 5, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the only blind man in history to reach the summit of the world's highest peak - Mount Everest. And on September 5, 2002, when he stood on top of Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, Weihenmayer completed his 7-year quest to climb the Seven Summits - the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, joining only 150 mountaineers who have accomplished that feat. At age 33, he was also one of the youngest. Additionally, he has scaled El Capitan, a 3300-foot overhanging rock wall in Yosemite; Polar Circus, a 3000-foot ice waterfall in The Canadian Rockies; and a difficult and rarely climbed rock face on 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya. In January 2008 he made a rare ascent of Losar, a 2500ft ice climb in the Khumbu Valley near Mt Everest, Nepal.

A former middle school teacher and wrestling coach, Erik is one of the most exciting and well-known athletes in the world. Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, Erik has become an accomplished mountain climber, paraglider, and skier, who has never let his blindness interfere with his passion for an exhilarating and fulfilling life.

Highlights

• On May  5, 2001, I became the only blind man in history to reach the summit of the world's highest peak - Mount Everest.
• September 5, 2002, when he stood on top of Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, Weihenmayer completed his 7-year quest to climb the Seven Summits - the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, joining only 150 mountaineers who have accomplished that feat. At age 33, he was also one of the youngest.
• In 2005, I lead a group of sighted and blind climbers to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. One of the group, Douglas Sidialo, became the first blind African to stand on the summit.
• Finishing my Seventh Summit with a climb of Carstensz Pyramid on the island of New Guinea.

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